“Fake it till you make it”… What about “Own it till you make it”…?

Advice I have been given time and time again, and advice I have given.. “Fake it till you make it”, or “don’t let them see you sweat”. Good advice. You want to exude confidence. Please are drawn to those who are confident. Confidence is associated with success. This is problematic for me; my nature is not terribly confident (although I guessing putting myself out there with this blog would not support that observation). I am also an introvert. Confidence and self assurance are key competencies of Emotional Intelligence. All true. All well studied, but ‘times they are a changin…’ What I want to consider is how do we still let people be vulnerable, show genuine humility. The balance between hubris and humble is where it’s at. Yes we want to highlight our successes, not shirk away from shining, or be deferential to our wonderful strengths and strides. Women, this especially means you… don’t be sheepish of showcasing what you have done. But what if you haven’t done that? What if you aren’t sure how that goes? Do we fake that too? Or can we just say “I don’t know”, “I am uncertain”. Newsflash leaders, you don’t have to know the answer. That is why you hired the people around you. And emerging leaders, you cannot know. We hear a lot these days about a growth mindset. YES! YES! YES! We are moving forwarding, we are learning from our mistakes. We aren’t faking that the mistake didn’t happen. We aren’t faking that we know. We aren’t faking that every move we make was a strategic step. We are kind, we apologize, to ourselves, to others. We are learning. Nothing to fake. Own what you know and own what you don’t. Own where you stepped in it. Own the growth. Anyone who had a failure (this means you) I think you would agree that it (many) was one of your greatest learnings. Why wouldn’t you want to own that!!! To be vulnerable and share your learnings. To let people see that moving forward toward the goal is about having blow ups (unless of course you work with dynamite, then hopefully your blow ups are in simulations).

As leaders leaving space for others to say, “I don’t know”, role modeling this and sharing failure is a powerful approach. We talk so much these days about building a ‘Psychologically Safe’ environment – my quick definition is a place that let’s all voices feel/know that is it ok to speak their mind – but what about psychological bravery? How do we as individuals know it is ok to be brave to ask questions, to share ideas, to be uncertain, when the advice we have been given is “fake it till you make it”??? So let’s change the mantra. Don’t fake it. Don’t ever fake it (ahem)! Be brave and role model to signal to others that is okay. It will be contagious. Authenticity is contagious.

“Fake it” for some may be more about that positive self talk. And to that I say, yup keep it up! We know that having hope and optimism about our goal and ramping up that positive self talk helps us get to where we want to be, getting to wherever “make it” means to you. I am not convinced that is faking it, that is just giving yourself the boost and confidence to realize what you want.

Leaders and team members all have a common goal. Meet the vision of the organization. If you joined the organization, I hope you feel connected to the vision. If you don’t, you may want to examine that, but that is for another ramble… Leaders and team members both have a responsibility to ensure an inclusive, diverse in thought team. Leaders need to create the space and role model for team members to be brave. We don’t need to pretend to know. So let’s stop faking and start growing.

Happy Friday Eve!

Strategery: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Strategy. We hear that word batted around ALL THE TIME… “what’s the strategy?”, “tell me more about the strategy?”, “Our strategy is…” “Julie is highly strategic”, “Bob is not very strategic”. Strategy is one of those words and a concept that everyone you ask has a slightly different view and the word is always in the definition they use. To me these are things people say who cannot articulate what their vision is, or what the overall strategic plan is in a way meaningful to those around them. When you are in a place of leadership, or power, your definition of ‘strategic’ is what counts. When Bob isn’t a mind reader he is viewed as ‘not strategic’. My interpretation, or definition, of strategy is big picture, long term thinking. Are you looking at the larger scheme of things, are you planning, or are you reacting? Are you aligning your work to the overall organization strategic plan? Reacting, I think we can all agree is not strategic. But, how big the picture is, and how you are planning and forward thinking leaves a lot to interpret, and highly dependent on where a person sits and what they see.

There is no doubt, that having a strategic plan, which basically sums up how your organization is going to meet the mission and vision, is necessary. Without a strategic plan we are all just ships (or canoes) out at sea drifting, possibly rowing feverishly, in any direction we decide (see reactive). The word strategic has become so overused in an abundance of circumstances that it has left many scratching their heads, doubting their own way of thinking and acting.

What some view as strategic, I see as manipulative. You could argue that it is a fine line between influencing and manipulating, but maybe we can put that aside for a moment, or for a future rambling of mine. I have seen people confuse being strategic with need for change management. Change management is about gathering people, gaining buy in and alignment. It is a part of the strategy of how you are going to get done what you need to. But others hide behind strategy and throw that word on it, as if it is the end all be all for every conversation on the topic. “This is the strategy”, interpret, “this is what we are doing, done” or “I know best because I am strategic and you are not.” Or when the boss says “what’s your strategy”, what they really mean is, “how are you going to get those others down the hall to do what we say?”.

Now you might say, well Rachael you are not being very strategic sharing your view on this, you are alienating people who define themselves as ‘highly strategic’. That may be true. I would ask to consider, why is that? Why is there a bubble of mystique around this word, that has no single definition? Why is that when people put the word strategy next to them it someone how provides this element of “I know the way”, like some sort of messiah. If as a leader, you have people on your team that are “not strategic” I would review your definition, share your definition (i.e. expectations), and make sure that you are articulating the “strategic plan” for your business function. Organizations want people who are “strategic thinkers”. All that means, is that you are thoughtful/planful about the work that you do, is appropriate to your role and scope, and you are aligned to where the organization is going. No magic. Maybe this is another word we can stop using to alienate people. Making people feel inferior that they are missing something because they are told they aren’t strategic. You aren’t missing anything.

“Strategy is fancy word for coming up with a plan and putting it into action.” ~Ellie Pidot